Both the Jaguars (through free agency) and Texans (the draft) made rebuilding a struggling defense a top priority heading into this season. Both are climbing the defensive rankings. A look at the numbers:

Earlier this week, Jaguars linebacker Clint Session wandered around the locker room collecting Styrofoam pillars to set up as bowling pins. He arranged them in a triangle and defensive end Matt Roth stood about 20 feet away prepared to bowl a weight at it.

Paul Posluszny watched from his locker and chuckled at the scene. Mike Sims-Walker took out his phone to video tape the contest. Roth rolled the weight, but it didn't hit any "pins." Then both he and Session tried a ball instead, which wasn't much more successful.

"Soon as he got here," Jaguars defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said, smiling, when asked how long it took for Session to reveal his sometimes goofy personality. "Puz is a brick wall, sometimes you gotta break him down for him to joke with us. He's getting there."

Then Knighton pointed at Roth.

"With guys like this, you got no choice," Knighton said. "Tuck [defensive coordinator Mel Tucker] cracks jokes, [defensive line coach] Joe [Cullen] will crack jokes. We're just a happy group right now. We're all on the same page."

The mood was light and comfortable this week. It wasn't too long ago that Session, Roth and Posluszny were all new guys, easing their personalities into the rest of the team. Three months after the Jaguars loaded up their defense, it now ranks sixth in the NFL, a dramatic transformation — though not much different from the one on the opposite sideline today.

As the Jaguars (2-5) and Texans (4-3) jostle for position in the AFC South in Houston, the game will feature two top-10 defenses, one year removed from when they were two of the worst in the NFL.

"We not only added good players but we added leaders," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "... It's one thing to go get talent but it's all got to mesh on your team and it has to be that team factor that goes into it, they've got to all come together. It's not just about ability all the time."

The offseason approaches were a little bit different for the Texans and Jaguars. Jacksonville looked to the future of its offense in the draft, instead of taking the expected pass-rusher.

Set at offense, Houston, however, took defensive players with its first five draft picks.

They took defensive end J.J. Watt 11th overall and immediately thrust him into a starting role.

"Boy, he's mature above and beyond his years," Kubiak said. "He's out there playing like he's been in the league five or six years."

Then came linebacker Brooks Reed and cornerback Brandon Harris in the second round, cornerback Rashad Carmichael in the fourth and safety Shiloh Keo in the fifth.

Once the lockout ended, both teams moved aggressively to fill their remaining holes.

Posluszny's agent got a phone call almost as soon as free agency opened. The deal with safety Dawan Landry began materializing early on, but took the rest of the week to finalize. Midweek, Clint Session's agent quipped that he and the Jaguars were "trying to make that love affair happen" between the team and Session. He agreed to terms on that Thursday.

Meanwhile the Texans honed in on their biggest weakness — the secondary — and attacked it on the market. They signed defensive backs Johnathan Joseph from Cincinnati and Danieal Manning from Chicago.

So far, they've helped the Texans pass defense rise from last in the NFL to No. 8, allowing 203.6 passing yards per game.

As for the Jaguars, a lot of the pieces are starting to find their stride.

Though Session was comfortable with his new team off the field right away, it took him a bit longer to reach that same comfort level on the field. Not only had he come in late due to collective bargaining agreement complications, but injuries early on hampered his training camp time.

"He missed some of the time that the others got to get caught up to speed," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "I can see where he'd be a lot more comfortable now after several weeks of being in the mix."

Monday night's victory over Baltimore was the most positive sign so far. Session started it, with a punishing blow to Ravens running back Ray Rice on the game's first play. He only played 24 snaps, but made an impact with six tackles including one for loss.

But the real impact comes in trying to repeat what they did to the Ravens.

"That's not a fluke," Knighton said of the Jaguars' defensive performance. "We expect the same results when we go to Houston."

Ok, why does the Its Go Time Has David Garrard picture on here? Gene fired the guy, but his picture is still on the Its Go Time. This team is a backwards @@@ like Gene Smith. As long as this organization has this pitful staff the Jags will be the butt of everyone joke on NFL Countdown.